CARDIOVASCULAR PROCEDURES << BACK Diagnostic Catheterization Averaging nearly 7,000 cases per year, the hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory is a vital component of the cardiac services delivered to the people of South Carolina by Providence Heart Institute. Both diagnostic and interventional procedures are performed in the hospital's six catheterization labs. Procedures include percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA), directional coronary atherectomy (DCA), coronary stenting, rotational atherectomy (rotablater), transluminal extraction atherectomy (brachytherapy) and intracoronary ultrasound imaging. What is cardiac catheterization? Diagnostic cardiac catheterization involves passing a catheter (a thin flexible tube) into the right or left side of the heart to obtain information about the heart or its blood vessels. Cardiac catheterization can be used to determine pressure and blood flow in the heart's chambers, collect blood samples from the heart, and examine the arteries of the heart with an X-ray technique called fluoroscopy. Click here for a description of the procedure. Patients undergoing cardiac catheterization are given a mild sedative prior to the test to help relax. An intravenous (IV) line is inserted into one of the blood vessels in the arm, neck, or groin after the site has been cleansed and numbed with a local anesthetic. A catheter is then inserted through the IV and into the blood vessel. The catheter is carefully threaded into the heart using an X-ray machine that produces real-time pictures. Once the catheter is in place, contrast material is injected and pictures are taken. Cardiac catheterization is usually performed to evaluate heart valves, heart function and blood supply, or heart abnormalities in newborns. It may also be used to determine the need for heart surgery. The procedure carries a slightly increased risk when compared with other heart tests.